New Richmond – Two years ago Savannah Brehm didn’t think college softball was in the cards for her. As a full-time starter she registered just six hit as a sophomore.
“My sophomore year I really struggled a lot and I got really down on myself,” Brehm admitted. “I was doing really bad. The summer in between my sophomore and junior year I was playing travel ball and all of a sudden I started doing better. Â I thought maybe then I’d be better.”
Brehm knocked it out of the park her following year – literally. She discovered her power stroke, crushing eight home runs as a junior las spring which tied the program record prior to this past season.
While she didn’t know where she’d be two years ago she now knows where she’ll be two years from now.
Surrounded by friends, teammates and family, Brehm signed her National Letter of Intent Tuesday afternoon at Wyoming East East High School to play college softball at Glenville State.
While she’ll be away from home when she makes her new residence in Gilmer County, she’ll have a piece of it with her as she’ll join her old sister Holly who pitches for the Pioneers.
“I fell in love with the coach and I really like her,” Savannah said. “The facilities are awesome and I just loved the atmosphere.”
Playing with her sister was a big draw for Brehm. Due to the age gap between the two, Holly graduated the spring before Savannah came into high school eliminating that possibility at the time. Covid and the extra eligibility granted because of the pandemic presented the opportunity for both to see the field together on the collegiate level which factored heavily into Savannah’s decision making process.
“She played a big role and I’ve always wanted to play with her,” Savannah said. “I never got the chance to and I’ve always looked up to her. She plays a big role because I wanted to play with her. She would just tell me throughout the process that it was entirely up to me and I could do whatever I wanted to do. She pointed out to me that it would be cool if we could play together and that opened my eyes that it would be cool. Since then I was kind of like ‘Ya know, I do want to play with her.'”
“For the longest time we never thought there was a chance for us to play together,” Holly said. “Once that started to become a possibility we were like ‘Oh, that would be fun’ so I told her to message coach (Sarah) Scoone and send her emails to get your name out there to her. The second coach Scoone noticed her she fell in love with her and Savannah’s just an athlete that can play any position. That’s what coach Scoone wants – athletes who are versatile and an go here or there and kind o do it all and that’s Savannah. The fact we get to play together my last year is special for me.”
Savannah, who has played the in the infield and outfield during her time in New Richmond believes she’ll play more in the outfield, though she’ll keep her options open.
She’ll do the same in the classroom.
“I think I want to study psychology,” Brehm said of her future plans. “I don’t know exactly what I want to do but there’s so much you can do with psychology so I’l have some time to figure it out.”
In the meantime Savannah still has one more season of high school ball left – one she’ll spend backing her younger sister Paytin while honing her craft.
“I want to work on everything before I get up there,” Savannah said. “I want to work on my fielding and make sure I do everything correctly. I still need to work on my hitting too because it’s a lot different than high school.”
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
